welcome to nhk world "newsline." islamic militants in my year gentleman went after workers in a gas production field in the north african country them kidnapped a number of foreign nationals and are reportedly holding them on site. a japanese engineering firm says at least three is citizens from japan are among the detainees. irish government confirms one of its citizens is also being held captive. a spokesperson for jgc

corporation says the nationals worked for their operations in algeria. the company is building three natural gas plants there a representative at a local jgc office told nhk he received a phone call from an employee stationed at a site about 1,000 kilometers south of the capital, algiers. he said the employee told him that gunshots had been heard in the distance over a period of about 20 minutes. the representative then said he lost contact with the employee. algerian news agency dna has reported that an armed group attacked a boarding house for staff working at an oil-related facility about 1500 kilometers south of algiers. it says the militants are holding the captives on site and are warning they will blow up the facility if authorities try to step in. the agency also reports that a gun fight erupted with algerian forces and that there are reports of casualties. the algeria press service says two people died in the violence and six were injured, including two foreign nationals.

one expert tells nhk the reported kidnapping in algeria could be related to conflict in neighboring mally. french troops have been bombing islamist rebel positions in that country since last friday following a request by the malian government. middle east and african expert tells nhk the reported kidnapping could be retaliation. hatanaka says i lal lambist forces in algeria and mally have tied with algeria. shinzo abe has made his first trip overseas to vietnam. he flew to hanoi on the first leg of his southeast nation tour. high on the summit agenda is the region's coordinated response to maritime activities. vietnam was chose as the first

destination and abe's efforts were praised during his previous term to build an alliance. abe noted the strategic environment had changed a lot in the six years since he was last in office. he called china's increased maritime activities a shared concern. he said all nations involved must abide by international law. prime minister says he understands japan's stance and gives his country's backing. vietnam and some of his neighbors have territorial disputes with china over islands in the south china sea. after the meeting, the two leaders held a joint news conference them said they will work together on various challenges facing southeast asia. >> translator: we have agreed the two countries will jointly tackle issues that concern east asia. we'll also cooperate in the fields of political peace and stability. >> prime minister zhun said they

agreed that all conflicts and issues shall be resolved through peace and international law. operate however japan's two main airlines have ground their fleets of 787 dream liners. the decision follows the latest incident with boeing's troubled plane. all nippon airway 787 made an emergency landing on wednesday in wrern western japan. alarms indicated there was smoke in the cockpit and a problem with a battery. the ana 787 made an emergency touchdown at the airport. it was on its way to hanera airport. cockpit displays there was a problem in a battery compartment. smoke filled a cockpit and cabin. a passenger captured this photo after the landing of people exiting the plane using the evacuation chutes. >> translator: attendants told

to us leave the plane. passengers were silent because they were scared. it was terrifying. >> all 137 passengers and crew made it out safely. police report one passenger was injured in the lower back. the flight left yamaguchi airport bound for tokyo. according to the transport minute industry, cockpit indicated irregularities 15 minutes after the takeoff. >> translator: the plane started to go down suddenly. and we thought it was going to crash. >> translator: there was a smell like burning vinyl. >> the pilot decided to make an emergency landing because of the smell and smoke warnings. he changed course at 8:41 a.m. and landed at the airport at 8:45 a.m. many airlines have been

attracted to the 787 because it uses 20% less fuel than other planes of its size. it has a lighter body and computer-controlled systems also create savings. former ana pilot and aviation expert explains how the 787 works. aexplains how the 787 works. kexplains how the 787 works. irexplains how the 787 works. aexplains how the 787 works. explains how the 787 works. mexplains how the 787 works. aexplains how the 787 works. explains how the 787 works. nexplains how the 787 works. explains how the 787 works. explains how the 787 works. >> translator: you could call the aircraft an electric monster. the plane is computerized and it uses a lot of electricity. >> many commercial jets use engine power to maintain cabin pressure and a hydraulic pump to steer, but boeing decided to use computers to do that in the 787. the engine is then free to provide power for flying, there by increasing fuel efficiency. as a result, the wiring system must cope with a greater voltage. the plane also has increased battery capacity. >> translator: using more power complicates the electrical system. a large flow of electricity increases the chance of trouble.

>> mechanical troubles have plagued the dreamliner since its debut in november 2011. several crews have experienced problems this month alone, both in the u.s. and japan. a battery pack caught fire early last week on a japan airlines 787 on the tarmac in boston. the next day, another jal dreamliner was leaking fuel. transport minister akihiro ota is putting priority on the case. >> translator: we've seen a number of troubles, including oil leaks, happening in just a week. we need to conduct thorough investigations. >> a spokesperson for boeing

says the company is willing to cooperate with airlines and authorities. ana mechanics checked the electric room under the cockpit and found a battery had changed color and liquid had leaked. the head of ana has called the transport minister to apologize. ito says their first task is to establish what caused the problems. wednesday's emergency landing has prompted both ana and japan airlines to ground all 21 of their dreamliners. u.s. aviation authorities say wednesday's forced landing of the 787 in japan will be included in a safety review they are conducting on the aircraft. a bomb explosion in kabul added to concerns about the long-term security of afghanistan. chill la pan sa narula has details from baghdad. >> the car bomb exploded wednesday in front of the afghan intelligence agency. repeated terrorist attacks are a reminder of the challenge for afghan security forces as they prepare to take the lead in

combat operations. righters reported six militants attacked the national directorate of security near heavily barricaded buildings and western embassies. at least two people were killed and 22 others wounded. >> translator: when i reached here, i heard a blast. my nose is slightly wounded. i don't know what has happened. there was lots of dust, but i escaped. >> the explosion was followed by volleys of gunfire. local police say all the assailants were killed. the taliban told nhk it was responsible. violence has been on the rise in afghanistan. in december, intelligence chief was seriously injured in a suicide attack. wednesday's explosion in the capital comes just days after president hamid karzai returned from the united states. he held discussions with president barack obama over future security arrangements as most international forces

prepare to withdraw from afghanistan by the end of 2014. pakistan says one of its soldiers has been killed in a skirmish with indian troops in cash mick, the fourth exchange of fire in the disputeded region already this year. simmering tensions threaten to derail efforts to improve cross-border ties. the pakistani military says indian troops started the firefight on tuesday night. the indian side admits there was an exchange of fire but claims pakistani troops shot first. the nuclear-armed neighbors resumed talks in 2011 to try to improve their relationship. the delicate subject of kashmir was a topic of discussion. india and pakistani troops scuffled three times just last week in kashmir with both sides reporting fatalities. indian prime minister manmohan singh on tuesday criticized pakistan. he said the relationship could no longer be considered business as usual. pakistan also faces mounting

trouble at home at home. a massive anti-government demonstration in the capital entered its third day on thursday. the protest expressed -- faced another setback on tuesday went supreme court ordered the arrest of prime minister roger per vase ashraf. the ruling against ashraf relates to allegations of corruption while he was minister of water and power between 2008 and 2011. the president's pakistan people's party is considering an appeal. tens tens of thousands of people have matched in islamabad three straight days. cadre is pledging to continue the protest until ashraf is arrested. the government appears isolated. some sources allege the protests have the covert support of the military. speculation is rising you that the supreme court around military are colluding to try

and top the government. japanese prime minister shinzo abe is on a tour of southeast asia. the newly elected leader is visiting vietnam, thailand and indonesia to strengthen ties in one of the world's economic regions. japanese companies are boosting investments here amid a territorial spam. as nhk world reports, they face a constant struggle to remain competiti competitive. >> reporter: indonesia is booming. commit is driving more than 6% a year. no wonder japanese firms i want to do business here. this sewing fact industry -- a japanesemaker of sporting gear. 60,000 leather gloves for golf and baseball are produced here every month. 12 years ago, the company chose indonesia, where labor costs were lower than in china.

>> translator: making gloves requires a lot of work. so keeping labor costs low is critical for our business. >> reporter: but even in indonesia, the minimum wage has more than doubled in the last six years. how much of the extra costs they can pass on to consumers is immeasurable. >> translator: this year has been the toughest ever. i don't know how we can overcome this. >> reporter: some businesses think they found the solution. it was known as asia's final frontier. western nations have eased

sanctions. the average wage of a factory worker in myanmar is around $57 a month, lower than indonesia. this man is preparing to open a factory in myanmar. the government has approved the investment plan he submitted a year ago. >> translator: this means lot to me. i can start doing business in myanmar at last. >> reporter: even here, there is no escaping the trend of rising labor costs. myanmar is enjoying an influx of vet. wages in the biggest city have jumped by 15% the past year. to mitigate the list, nakamura's company decided to build his

fact any a town 80 kilometers away. infrastructure is poor. but he thinks the price is worth paying. nakamura and his staff discuss how to recruit quality workers before operations begin this summer. >> people call myanmar the last frontier but even here, it's a constant struggle to keep labor costs low. >> reporter: the rising cost of labor hasn't deterred japanese businesses from investing more. but wherever they go, they need to constantly adapt to stitch together a strategy for success. nhk world. >> that wraps up our bulletin. foreign direct investment

into china fell last year. that's the first drop since 2009, when the chinese economy was hit by the global financial crisis. china's commerce ministry spokesman told reporters on wednesday that the country's foreign direct investment fell 3.7% to over $110 billion, compared to the previous year. the decline is due to the slowdown of the global economy, stemming from the european debt crisis. the country's rising labor costs also reduced the merits of setting up factories there. another factor, the sluggish pace of investments from japan. bilateral relations soured over the disputed islands in the east china sea. analysts say china needs to improve investment environment to boost foreign capital, which the country's leaders believe is indispensable for stable economic growth. japan's two major oil firms together with a state-backed bank, will set up a joint company to run large scale power generation or mega solar facilities. executives of cosmo oil, showa shell sekiyu and development

bank of japan group will create the new company at the end of the month. each of the three entities will invest in the eight mega facilities nationwide. they hope to begin solar-powered generation by the end of the year. the new facilities will have a capacity of generating a total of 26 mega watts, enough to supply 7,000 households.watts, supply 7,000 households. the generator power will then be sold to local power utilities. more oil refineries are expected to close in japan due to sluggish demand for gasoline. the leading oil firms hope to secure a new source of earnings through the project. they also aim to effectively utilize their disused oil facilities. japan's shipments of beer and beer-like beverages fell in 2012 to a record low for the eighth year in a row. industry officials say customers

are spending less and younger consumers' tastes are changing. brewers last year sold 5.5 million kiloliters of beer, low-malt beer and beer-flavored drinks. that's down from last year. the volume of beer shipped fell .3% and figures for the low-malt variety sagged nearly 8%. shipments of low-priced beer-flavored drinks rose by 1%. many people in japan celebrate the new year by attending a classical concert. some of the world's greatest orchestra flew in this year to perform. one visiting musician decided to try out some innovative equipment. bows are usually handmade from the wood of an indean juried brazilian tree but a team of japanese design think they have found a new way to pass mass produce bows without threatening

the trees or losing sound quality. nhk world's rena knack cano explains. >> reporter: the concert master for the vienna philharmonic orchestra has played with them more four decades and described as living legend. he brought an elite group of the orchestra's musicians to japan for a new year's concert. everything about him is traditional. his music, his violin, his style. except for his bow. >> i did not expect is this sound. music is another thing with tradition, think about tradition but not here. but not here. such good material, why should

you not play it? there is no reason not to play. >> reporter: the bow is like an extension of the string player's arm. some would argue it is equally as important as the violin itself. a group of engineers has spent years creating an unorthodox bow. now, they have convinced one of the best violinists in the world that their creation may be the way of the future. their challenge to create a quality, high-quality carbon fiber bow that looks, feels and sounds like a wooden one. designers analyzed every variable of the best bows.

and even teamed up with the engineers from the firm's car parts department. they experimented with carbon sheets, altered the rolling techniques and after plenty of trial and error, turned their data into a product. >> translator: there are a lot of things we can do because it's carbon. it's a very versatile material. we can be more precise and control many variables. once we established the basic techniques, we can mass produce a high-quality bow. that is the biggest difference between wood and carbon. >> reporter: the result? five different bows for different types of players. the developers asked to test their latest creations before the new year's concert. ♪

he says he prefers a stiffer, heavier bow and he says he will keep using his carbon fiber bow from yamahaersmahayamaha's earlt applauded the efforts to innovate. >> sure there are players that would prefer that kind of type so we have to build different types. >> translator: i want to give musician as many options as possible, like for this type of player this would be a great fit. and for that type, another bow would be best. i know we can make them all. i still have a lot of things i want to try. >> reporter: other companies have now started fine tuning their own carbon bows. what started out as an

alternative to endangered wood is becoming the material of choice for many world-class musicians. rina nakano, nhk world, tokyo. cold weather is dominating much of east asia today. meteorologist robert speta is here tus know if it will warm up or stay cold. robert? >> well, gene, it looks like things will remain rather chilly across much of japan, even toward china. high pressure from siberia is bringing in very chilly temperatures. ahead of it, a weak disturbance pushes across the western portion of the philippines towards hokkaido and northern hanchu. 20 to 40 centimeters of snow as this continues to push overhead. also, see the low pressure pushing off toward the east? high pressure from the north, bringing all of the cold temperatures with it, but a

gradient will be setting up here. that will bring very gusty winds. upward of 70 kilometers at times across the sea of japan side of japan, but also through the east china sea, even the southern japanese islands, you will experience very gusty winds. if you have any vacation plans out in mid-january, think it will be nice and warm there in okinawa? actually, things will be rather chilly and very windy going out through the next several days. and down through the philippines, temperatures dip to the teens and in some areas in northern luzon, right around the single digits, especially going through the overnight hours. thursday's high in manila, 29. overnight, down into the teens. shanghai at 5. seoul, minus 3 for your high. right around minus 9 for the low. rather chilly there for you. as we take a look toward the americas, we have this big band of cloud cover from the gulf of mexico, extending out through the northeast. that is bringing all sorts of rough weather. seeing some rainshowers and

thunderstorms activity along the gulf coast and flash flooding could occur here. looking out to the appalachians, snow changing and even some freezing rain. driving conditions will be really hazardous and persist going through the next 24 hours. this remains stubborn and lingers. in the northeast, another centimeter or two of snow that will work its way off toward the east. behind it then, we have this high pressure coming in. already seeing chilly temperatures with this. still going to bring you fair weather at the very least. off to the north, into the dakotas, you have been seeing gusty winds and seeing snow showers. it will taper off. that will bring windchill for you, off toward the great lakes as well, and the high temperature as we look into central canada. minus 19 for the high there in winnipeg. denver, starting to see a little

bit of a warmup. pulls off toward the east, warm air pushing in from the south. still, rather chilly for as far south as houston. 9 for the high on your wednesday. let's take a look across much of europe, though. we have a messy picture. a series of storm systems. extending all the way from the british isles to eastern europe, all part of the meandering and strong jet stream pushing through the region. that is surging in warm air across the iberian peninsula. remaining chilly and eventually working its way toward the east. warming up. warming up. on the other side of the jet, deep trough pulling in cold air from the north. making things very unstable across italy over toward greece. about five to ten centimeters of snow away from the coastline is ended. italy near the coastline, around rome, you will see some thunderstorm activity, even into southern italy and off there toward greece. so widespread, rough weather will be persisting throughout the next several days, as these systems continue to run along. at least a little bit of a break in the iberian peninsula. once the next system comes in

will bring in even more rainshowers. so one thing you have to look forward to, a little bit of a warmup in london and paris, now hovering at the freezing mark on your thursday. here is a look at your extended forecast. we'll be back in 30 minutes

with more news. i'm gene otani in tokyo. \s